The Hindu : New Delhi News : Reader's Mail

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Monday, Oct 09, 2006
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Reader's Mail

Hello, hello....

The other day, when I would try to log in to my Reliance BroadNet account I would get a message to the effect that the details I had supplied were incorrect. The help deskwhich I reached at the first attempt, told me that there was a technical problem across the entire country and that service would be restored at 4 p.m. Today I could not even connect and get a false response. When I first dialled the help desk I was greeted with silence. At the second attempt, the nauseating recorded voice spoke to me as if to a long lost friend or lover and then played a busy tone through my ear-piece. At the third attempt I got a human, but as might be expected of a company which lives off communication, I had to strain to hear him. He said there was a technical problem across the entire country and that service would be restored at 5 p.m. This limb of the Reliance empire is clearly using two tactics of deception. The first is to say that the problem is a "technical" one and thus beyond the control of mortals and certainly not one for which Reliance is responsible. The second is to say, in effect, "Be a nationalist and join the whole country in its suffering."

Is "Reliance" related etymologically to the verb "to rely on" and to "reliability"? Would anyone named Ambani know?

Mukul Dube,

D-504,

Purvasha Anand Lok, Mayur Vihar 1,

Delhi - 110 091.

Hello, Delhi....

Though more conscious of Delhi's heritage than ever, people of the city seem mute in the face of constant name-changing of streets and localities that are also part of the Capital's heritage. I notice that Mongolpuri, a camp of Timur and Mongols, has gone through several shifts from Mangolpuri to Mangalapuri. Ansari Road in Darya Ganj is the object of a more deliberate wipe-out in favour of some local big-wig, and the abiding presence of the Ansari family there disappears overnight. The good old Ridge and Civil Lines are full of similar denials. Do Delhiwallahs have no sense of history?

David Baker,

Allnutt North Block,

St. Stephen's College,

Delhi - 110 007.

A cruel blow

As per reports, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has approved of a very steep increase in the medical insurance premium rates for senior citizens at the request of the State-owned Oriental General Insurance Company. The reason given is that insurance companies have been incurring losses.

It is common knowledge that all our State-owned general insurance companies are grossly over-staffed. Because of this, they introduced VRS for their staff but it was the cream among the staff that took the offer and went over to greener pastures in private sector insurance companies.

If the present staff strength is reduced by 25 to 30 per cent, there will be a huge saving in costs and productivity will increase.

All over the world the tendency is to protect the senior citizens from the vagaries of life and allow them concessional rates. The general insurance sector in India is doing just the reverse. In the past, when we had the joint family system in our society, care was taken of the elders by the younger members of the family. With the present-day youth drifting more and more towards Western culture, the parents are left out in the cold.

With sharp decreases in interest rates and real-time increases in the inflation rate, the senior citizens who live on interest income are put to great hardship. Added to that now is the lethal increase in insurance premiums which will rob about eight crore senior citizens out of the country's total population of 107 crores of any medical care.

Surely the Prime Minister and the Union Finance Minister should do something about this urgently?

G. M. Rama Rao,

9-31-7/2,

Pithapuram Colony, Visakhapatnam - 530 003.

A raw deal

I went to Kool Hut in Delhi's Sarita Vihar to buy a colour TV. I decided to buy a Sansui 29 WTG model.

I was told by the dealer that its price was Rs. 18,990 but he would give it to me at a discounted price of Rs. 16,800.

I was happy with the deal and made the payment. When the set was delivered at my residence, I realised that it was not a fresh set but the one that was on display in the shop. When enquired about it, the dealer did not admit it. I rushed to the shop and confirmed that I was indeed right. The dealer then replaced it with a new one.

Later after looking at the carton I found that the MRP of the set was only Rs. 15,990. But the dealer would not pay me the difference. He claims that the company had sold it to him at more than 15,990. I request Sansui to take immediate action and make good my loss.

Bala,

E-17, Sarita Vihar,

New Delhi - 110 076.

An endless wait

My daughter studying in Sastra deemed university, Thanjavur, sent a document through Professional Couriers to me in Lucknow. The document was to be despatched on August 26 when my daughter handed it over to the courier staff. But I have not received it so far.

I saw a similar complaint about the same courier in these columns on July 24 from S. Chakravarthy of Delhi.

S. V. Raghavan,

B-103/3, RDSO Colony,

Manak Nagar,

Lucknow-226 011.

Pilani calling

I am a student of BITS-Pilani in Rajasthan. I lost my mobile phone with Hutch number (99821-33951) on August 31 in Delhi. I came back to Pilani and submitted all the documents including FIR, ID-proof, photograph, etc., to Hutch on September 8. They assured me that I would get the new SIM-card within 48 hours. But I got it only on September 16. What speed!

Saurabh Gupta,

AK-166, BITS-Pilani, Rajasthan - 333 031.

(Letters for this column may be sent by e-mail to wsins@thehindu.co.in. They must carry the full postal address of the writer and should be marked "Reader's Mail".)

D-504,

Purvasha Anand Lok, Mayur Vihar 1,

Delhi - 110 091.

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